Iced Tea Please!

Let's talk tea...

Iced tea to be specific.  A southern staple.  Certainly the most popular drink by far in my household.  There's nothing better than sitting down with a nice glass of iced tea.  Taking time to slow down and enjoy the flavor!

We serve iced tea with everything...and it's perfect for summer parties, grilling, or entertaining friends.  Right now everyone is just starting grilling season with Memorial Day tomorrow and this would be a perfect drink to make for a crowd.  Would you like a tall glass of iced tea?  Yes please!!

Today' I'm going to share the traditional iced tea with a few variations.  So let's talk a little about tea.

Brewing Tea:  There are several methods to making brewed iced tea.  My mom came from the school that took a small amount of water and boiled it, adding loose leaf black tea to it and let it steep to make a concentrate.  Then it was strained and divided among the jars and more water was added to finish the process.  You can tell the strength of the tea that way by the color of the tea.

I still make tea that way but I use tea bags instead of loose tea.  It's just easier, and you don't have to strain the tea.

What tea to use?  There are many types of tea out there.  We use a black tea.  I grew up on Lipton tea, so that's what I like, and still use.  It makes a nice strong black tea.  A lot of southerners swear by Lusianne Tea, but I never cared for it being a Lipton girl!  Use what you prefer, that's what counts!  I even experiment with peach teas or other fruit infused teas, and they work well, but black tea is the standard.

Sweetened or un-sweetened?  I make mine un-sweetened.  That way I can add Splenda to it if I like or leave it plain.  You can add a simple syrup (equal parts water and sugar boiled to form a syrup) to your finished tea all at once or by the glass as you please.  There are no strict rules! This is YOUR tea, do as you please.

Storing iced tea:  This is important.  If you don't want cloudy tea you must allow your finished tea to cool to room temperature before putting it in the refrigerator.  Otherwise your tea will turn cloudy.  I usually leave mine out for an hour or so before storing it.  



Southern Iced Tea

Makes 1/2 gallon

1 cup boiling water
3 regular sized tea bags
7 cups of water
ice

Boil one cup of water on the stove or microwave.  Add tea bags and let them steep for about 15 min.  You want to get a dark concentrate.  The darker the concentrate the more tea you will end up with.  Pour your concentrate in to a 1/2 gallon jug or pitcher and add approx 7 cups of water.  You can tell the strength of the tea by the color.  Very light colored tea is a more weak tea.  Dark will be strong.  Adjust your tea strength to your liking by adding more water, or more concentrate.

Add ice to your glasses and pour tea over.  If you add ice to your container with the tea, it will dilute it.  

Variations of Iced Tea:

Orange Ice Tea

Makes 1/2 gallon


1/2 gallon of iced tea (see Southern Iced Tea recipe)
1 orange, cut in to slices

To the brewed iced tea add 2 orange slices to the container.  Take the handle end of a wooden spoon and muddle the orange slices on the bottom of the container to release the orange juices.  Add more slices to the tea for flavor.  Add an orange slice to the individual glasses as well for garnish.

 

Apple Iced Tea

1/2 gallon of iced tea (see Southern Iced Tea recipe)
1 cup apple juice, at room temperature or cold.

To the brewed iced tea add the apple juice, stirring to combine.  Serve over ice. 



Peach Iced Tea

1/2 gallon of iced tea (see Southern Iced Tea recipe)
3/4 cup peach nectar (such as Kern's) at room temperature or cold.

To the brewed iced tea add the peach nectar, stirring to combine.  Serve over ice. 

 
 

Orange Chicken Stir Fry

One great thing about living in Southern California is the amount of great Chinese and Thai restaurants that we have.  So many to choose from and so little time!

While we have many favorite dishes that we typically order when we go out, there are a few that I just love.  Chicken is probably my favorite protein in  Asian dishes, so I tend to order that more. Getting a couple of main dishes and sharing them is our favorite thing!  I love Cashew Chicken, General Tao's Chicken, Lemon Chicken...you get my drift.  Another popular one is Orange Chicken, and I love it as well.  The unfortunate thing is that this dish tends to be fried.  So we don't end up ordering it as often as I'd like to.

So everyone loves a good stir fry right?  They are easy and quick to make at home.  You can make a small or large quantity with no problem, and the taste is fresh...outstanding!

So missing my Orange Chicken, I set out to make a dish worthy of the name with the flavors I crave...but with out the frying.  Out came the ingredients to whip up a wonderful glaze and using my base techniques for stir fry it was done!  Quick and simple, fresh, light, and citrusy.  My cravings were satisfied...ahhh!

What a great meal to cook on a weeknight.  This can be done in under 30 minutes.  Prep is the key, and make sure to start the rice first.  A nice bed of fluffy brown or white rice will set the dish off.  The rest is a piece of cake.

Next time you are craving take out, make it at home.  It will be healthier for you and more cost effective. The best part is it will taste just as good as your local Chinese restaurant.

Orange Chicken Stir Fry

serves 4
time:  under 30 minutes

1 T cornstarch
2/3 c orange juice
1/2 t ginger
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite size cubes
1 large zucchini, halved and sliced
1 medium onion, thinly sliced and separated into rings
3 teaspoons canola oil, divided
1/3 cup reduced-sugar orange marmalade
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice

Roasted peanuts, optional
Hot cooked rice, optional

In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and orange juice, and ginger until smooth; set aside. 

In a large nonstick skillet or wok, stir-fry chicken 2 teaspoons canola oil about 5-7 minutes until golden brown and cooked all the way through.  Remove and keep warm.

In the same pan,  add another teaspoon of canola oil and stir-fry zucchini until tender, about 5 minutes.  Add chicken back to the pan.  Stir in the marmalade, brown sugar and lemon juice until marmalade is dissolved. 

Stir orange juice mixture.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Serve over rice and top with roasted peanuts if desired.

Cranberry Orange Quick Bread

I just love a good quick bread don't you?

One reason, is that they are is easy to make, and quick to pull together.  You can eat if for breakfast, a snack, or serve it for dessert.  What can be more versatile than that?  

I have a collection of quick bread recipes that I've had for years, but one of my favorites, along with my mom's is a Cranberry Orange Quick Bread.  There is just something about cranberries combined with orange that works so well.  To give it a southern twist we always throw toasted pecans in our quick bread for a little crunch.  It's just the best addition.

So when I visited my mom recently, one thing I always do is make some type of sweet to snack on during the week.  This time it was this wonderful quick bread.  Mom likes to toast it with a smear of butter for breakfast.  Yum Yum!  

This recipe goes together quickly and comes out perfectly.  A nice dense cake like bread that is both sweet and tart, and has the perfect crunch!

Hope you take time out to try this family favorite, it's scrumptious!

Cranberry Orange Quick Bread

make 1 loaf
time: 1 hr 20 min.

1 cup low fat 2% milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 T grated orange peel
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
3 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3/4 cup fresh or frozen cranberries, chopped
1/2 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Heat oven to 400°F.  Spray a 9"x5"x3" loaf pan with cooking spray.  

Whisk milk, oil, orange peel and egg product in large bowl with spoon. Stir in flours, sugar, baking powder and salt just until flour is moistened (batter will be lumpy). Fold in cranberries.

Pour batter in loaf pan.  Tap on counter to remove any air pockets. Bake 1 hour 10 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans and place top side up on wire rack. Cool completely, about 2 hours before slicing. 

Pork Chops in an Orange-Cumin Sauce

I needed a quick and easy meal to cook for dinner last Friday night cause I had a lot to do...laundry, yuk!  I have made this particular orange-cumin sauce for one of my grilled chicken dishes but didn't have time for grilling. 

So knowing that I had pork chops on hand, I adapted that yummy sauce to become a pan sauce for the chops.  My oh my, was this yummy!

It's an easy weeknight meal with great flavors, Latin flavors, like a mojo sauce.  It has just a few ingredients so you can whip it up in a flash!

Hope you enjoy this recipe....we sure did!

You will need:  pork chops, orange juice, cumin, 2 oranges for zest and the segments, and cilantro. That's it! 

Zest your orange.  Next peel the oranges, be sure to remove the white membrane. (This part is bitter!)  Cut segments from the orange by slicing in between the white membranes.  

Place a tablespoon of oil in a hot skillet.  Salt and pepper both sides of your pork chops.  I used boneless skinless thin chops, but you can certainly use bone-in if you prefer.  (Thick or thin!)

Place chops in the hot skillet, cooking on the 1st side for 3-4 minutes. (Increase cooking time if using thick or bone-in chops)

Turn over chops and cook an additional 3 minutes until browned and cooked through.

Remove chops to a platter and keep warm.

Add zest, orange juice, and cumin to the skillet.  Cook until slightly thickened, about 1 1/2 minutes.

Remove from the heat and add orange segments.

Spoon mixture over pork chops on the platter and sprinkle with chopped cilantro.

Super flavors!

Pork Chops in an Orange-Cumin Sauce

Serves 4

1 T oil

4 pork chops boneless or bone-in

Salt and pepper

1 ½ t. cumin

2 T orange zest

1/2 cup orange juice

2 oranges, peeled and cut into segments

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

           

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high. Season pork with salt and pepper and cook until cooked through, 3-4 minutes, flipping once. Transfer to a platter and keep warm.

Add orange zest, juice, and cumin to the skillet. Cook until slightly thickened, 1 1/2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in orange segments. To serve, spoon orange mixture over pork chops and top with cilantro.